Hopeless in Corus
by horsefeathers
Summary: A girl from a very small barony is sent to Corus with some very confused ideas about why she's going there. No, she's not a mage, and hopefully not a page - So what is she? Please R
1. A Scholar?

Disclaimer - I don't own Corus or Tortall or anything , they belong to Ms. Pierce along with everything else - except the characters that I've made up.  
  
This takes place a looong time after Kel and Co. Currently, girls are pages, no longe put on probation but still there aren't many. This is my first fanfic, so please R/R - Flames are fine (just not to harsh. ^^)  
  
Gwynna  
  
"Useless! Completely useless," Gwynna's father's words rang in her ears as she quietly flipped a page in her book. They should at least learn to argue when their two rooms away from me, the girl thought to herself as she gave up on reading, shutting the book with as least noise as possible and blowing her candle out, climbing up into her bed. Shutting her eyes tight, she tried to block out the shouting from the other room, trying to imagine having the skills and grace of the knights in her books. I could go off an be a page, she thought fleetingly, brandishing the thought as soon as it came. "We should just send her off to the capital and let her see what those silly fantasies really involve. Can't even marry her off to the townfolk!" With this the girl succumbed to her tears, burying her head under a pillow, trying to sleep to escape her trap.  
  
Gwyn's lip quivered more and more as they started to reach Corus, glancing periodically at the guardsman accompanying her. "I- I- I don't think I can do this," she finally squeaked to the man, who rolled his eyes and continued onwards. She simply sniffled as she continued through the towns, hardly aware of all the bustle around her, not really caring at this point.   
  
She was shoved - okay, well maybe not shoved but in her opinion - into a room, staring down at the floor, not wanting to look up into the rumored icy gaze of the training master. "Hello Gwynna," a soft voice greeted her instead, sounding in a low range tenor. Finally the girl glanced up, hazel eyes brimming with tears, she glanced around the room which was full of…books… And the man sitting behind a desk looked by no means like a training master. In fact, he was rather…scrawny to say the least. The man peered over thickly rimmed glasses at the young girl, "You are Gwynna, are you not?" Silently she nodded, waiting to be sent to some other room, filled with swords and weaponry instead of books and scrolls. "And you have come here to become a scholar, yes?" Jaw dropped and she simply gaped at him before realizing she was being rude, quickly snapping her mouth shut and nodding in confusion.  
  
Does anyone ever bother to tell her anything? By the Goddess, why didn't her family mention that she wasn't being sent to Corus to become a page and be beaten up by all the boys and terribly embarrassed? Hmph. "Well then," the man said, noting something down in a book and flipping it shut, "Come with me, please…"  
  
Other chapters will follow. I know you're all just dying to find out what happens to Gwynna. ;) 


	2. A Mage?

Hmm...Didn't take me too long to get the next chapter in, now did it?  
  
-Chapter 2-  
  
Gwynna scampered after the scholar, now wide-eyed and glancing around at her surroundings, absolutely awed. "This will be your home now. You will live in the Scholar's Hall with the other students. You wake up at the morning bell with everyone else and report for breakfast. Just because you are not a fighter, does not mean that you will not be working as hard as them," the man went on his shpiel, Gwynna only half listening, amazed at her newest position in society. The man suddenly stopped, and Gwyn did not, realizing just in time to halt before running straight into the man. "This is Mierna, she'll show you your rooms and get you your wardrobe." Before he turned to leave, he gave her a scrutinizing glance, "Toss in a couple of blues," he directs the woman before leaving with a sweeping turn on his heel.  
  
Gwynna just stared up at Mierna, waiting for direction of some sort, but the woman just brushed past her, starting to walk down the corridor. "Well what're you waitin' for girl? C'mon," she ordered as she heard only one pair of footsteps in the halls. "Let's go." Obediently, Gwyn followed, picking up a wardrobe of simple breeches and loose shirts - all in drab whites, grays, and tans, save a couple of mysterious peacock blue robes. After all was tended to, they finally stopped in a corridor at a door, her name inscribed on a small plaque next to it. "Get changed then wait outside your door. Master Lian will come by to show you to the dining hall and find another scholar to show you around."  
  
Gwynna shut her door quietly as Mierna left, not wishing to disturb the peaceful hall. She took a moment to sit on her bed, breathing in the scents and taking in the sounds. A single window on the side of the room was left open. Not much of a view, but it'll do. The window looks out on the pastures, a gaggle of horses grazing on the other side. A content sigh and she latched the window, quickly throwing on a fresh pair of breeches and shirt, hurrying out her door as the dinner bell rang.   
  
Eagerly, she glanced about the crowds passing by her, waiting for a tall, sweeping Master to come and usher her to the dining hall. Smile faded as the masses started to diminish, and yet no one came for her. Finally, along with the last few scragglers, someone tapped Gwynna's shoulder, startling her half to death. A small woman, just above five feet with short cropped brown hair was standing there, patiently awaiting Gwyn to greet her. "Uhm…Hello…Have you seen Master Lian? He's supposed to show me to the Dining Hall…" Gwyn asked shyly, looking the small woman over. A bubbly chuckle burst from Liam's lips, "That, my dear girl, would be me. I am Master Lian. A mage and scholar, just like you are to be." With that, the woman pivoted and started off down the hallway, leaving Gwynna stunned and standing there, once again gaping. Mage and scholar? Surely she just means scholar. With a shrug, she hurried off down the hallway after her, figuring it was simply a mistake.  
  
  
  
Tell me...Was that not predictable? Okay, thought so. Well, we all know what'll happen next, right? ;) 


End file.
